Transmissible Alzheimer's disease

Researchers report a link between Alzheimer's disease and a discontinued medical treatment.

In a new study, they found five cases of Alzheimer's in individuals treated as children with cadaver-derived human growth hormone (c-hGH), used in the UK from 1959 to 1985.

These individuals developed Alzheimer's symptoms at an unusually young age, between 38 and 55 years, and genetic testing ruled out inherited forms of the disease.

The treatment, later found to be contaminated with amyloid-beta protein, had been linked to Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease (CJD) and was replaced by synthetic hormones.

This discovery suggests a new dimension in understanding Alzheimer's, highlighting the potential for disease-related proteins to be transmitted through medical treatments.

Source: Nature Medicine